[O.Sc. buckie, bukky, the shell of a whelk or other mollusc, c.1500–c.1512; origin uncertain (D.O.S.T.); phs. from Lat. buccinum, a shell-fish used in dyeing purple. Ta in comb. (4) may be taken from taw, the large marble pitcher in the game of “bools,” but cf. also the Yks. taw, to twist; in this case it would indicate the spiral shape.]